Can a mobile base for a bandsaw have just 2 wheels?

[Domingos]

Greetings my friends,
I've just bought a new bandsaw and using1/4" thick corner steel I've welded it a base. the thing weighs roughly 70 kg and each wheel has a 50kg weight rate but I have a problem... I only have two wheels and I can't buy two more right now so I was wondering if I could/should make a mobile base with two fully turnable wheels and two metal feet.

Can someone tell me their opinion?

 

[Spectric]

Many machines do just have two wheels, you raise the front so all the weight is on the wheels and move it then put it down again. If you had four wheels then even with them locked you could experience shake.

 

[Domingos]

Many machines do just have two wheels, you raise the front so all the weight is on the wheels and move it then put it down again. If you had four wheels then even with them locked you could experience shake.

So the wheels should be on the back side?

 

[Ttrees]

Yes, and you use a jockey bar for the front.
Looks a bit tippy to me, say if you've got a bad floor or whatever.
Pipe might do the trick in the meantime, should you find some cheap casters.
70kg won't require some uber fancy ones.
If the machine is on legs, then you could make something like Carl Holmgren's
ones, possibly make it from metal instead.

 

[ajs]

I suspect you would be better off with a pair of fixed orientation wheels over swivel castors. I'd expect the latter to misbehave when you lift the footed end. With only two independently rotating wheels on the ground you don't need the swivels for steerability.

 

[Seascaper]

Hello
I have a bandsaw base that has two rollers that makes it so easy to move around. The rollers look to me like they are simply galvanised scaffold pole cut and then spindles made to fit. The machine is a heavy Startrite but it works extremely well thanks to the previous owner. If you are interested I will take a photo, it would seem to much better than the original base for it, one can see one of the rollers bottom left. It makes it easy to move machine when sawing long lengths.
Regards

 

[mikej460]

If you bolt 2 fixed castors to the rear legs such that the wheels just touch the ground, then by tipping the bandsaw backwards the weight shifts to the castors and you wheel it wherever you like. This way you don't lose any rigidity.

 

[TRITON]

Either end, but never the middle

 

[stuart little]

I have a RP 300e which came with a base frame & two wheels, but I chose to mount it on a cabinet on castors & I find it very stable.

 

[Jacob]

Startrite 352 has two little castors under the front edge which means you can drag it across a smooth floor quite easily but it will stay firmly in place when you stop.
On a rougher floor, the road, over the kerb etc. I have moved it quite easily with a sack trolley.

 

[Domingos]

I have a RP 300e which came with a base frame & two wheels, but I chose to mount it on a cabinet on castors & I find it very stable.

I basically welded cornersteel around the base that came with it. I have two of those turnable 3 inch wheels with rubber tires but the floor in workshop is quite bumpy and rough so I'm leaning towards the 4 wheels... 2 turnable and two non-turnable. Maybe I am wrong but... Wouldn't it be more stable with 4?

 

[Fergie 307]

So the wheels should be on the back side?

Have a look at some images of mitre saw stands, and you will see the idea. They usually have two big fixed wheels at one end. These are normally just off the ground, but come into contact with the floor as soon as you pick up the other end.

 

[Shan]

Have a look at some images of mitre saw stands, and you will see the idea. They usually have two big fixed wheels at one end. These are normally just off the ground, but come into contact with the floor as soon as you pick up the other end.

Domingos, pleased to hear that you have purchased a bandsaw, I'm still looking.
I think that Fergie 307 has the right idea. I've seen it on the Makita bandsaw & some table saw's as well. Gives you a more solid base so that it won't move around. I'm inclined to think that with 4 wheels if you have something heavy or difficult to cut then the whole machine will start moving.

Good luck.

 

[Jacob]

If you do two wheels they want to be on the heaviest edge, which for a bandsaw is likely to be the front, with the table sticking out over it etc.
Then they support more of the weight when you are heaving it about.

 

[Dave Moore]

I think you might want removable handles set up for your height so you can lift the front just enough to move it without losing the balance and tipping it backwards.

 

[TRITON]

I have moved it quite easily with a sack trolley.

Very handy bit of kit a sack trolley. So cheap too considering how useful they are.